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Dozens go Over the Edge for a good cause in Chicago

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

CHICAGO — Dozens of daredevils met Saturday in downtown Chicago to take a big leap off a tall building to raise money for a good cause.The day began on the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency for Over the Edge. ‘Asking for prayers’: Steve McMichael admitted to ICU amid ALS battle It's a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Illinois. 80 people raised at least $1,500 before rappelling down the downtown hotel's west tower.Make-A-Wish has been granting the wishes of critically ill children nation-wide for more than four decades.It's making wishes of 710 Illinois children come true this year. Elizabeth Stotz rappelled for the first time in honor of her brother who was a Make-A-Wish kid. John Stotz suffered from DIPG, a type of brain tumor. He died in January at nine.The event helped raised more than $200,000.

How Illinois ranks in pay growth

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

ILLINOIS (WMBD) – What kind of pay change did Illinoisans see in the last year? The answer is pretty average, according to a recent report from private payroll firm ADP.To determine year-over-year annual pay growth across the country, ADP used salaries of nearly 10 million employees over the last 12 months, with the results listed in its National Employment Report.According to the latest data, Illinois ranked near the middle of the nation in terms of pay growth over the past year. In fact, the state tied for 23rd, sharing the spot with Michigan, Mississippi, and Rhode Island. While a four-way tie for 23rd doesn’t exactly stand out, it’s still nowhere near Delaware, which was ranked dead last in the 51st spot. (Since D.C. is included in the report, the overall ranking consisted of 51 states.)Annual pay growth in Illinois was 6.4% over the last year, according to the report. In addition to being above the national median of 6.2%, that percentage stands tall compared to neighborin...

Wells Fargo customers report missing deposits from bank accounts 

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

(The Hill) — Wells Fargo customers are reporting the disappearance of direct deposits in their accounts.On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, users complained about their disappearing funds. One bank customer said they saw the news about the problem right as they noticed their deposits weren’t in their account. Pilot lectures passengers in viral pre-flight speech: ‘He’s fed up with all these childish adults’ “Right before this popped up in the news I saw that my deposits weren't in my account,” their tweet read. “I was trying to pay bills and none would go through. This is so unacceptable.”The company responded in a statement to CNN that a “limited amount” of their customers are experiencing the disappearing deposits. They said most of them were “resolved” and that they would fix the problem soon.  Map: Does your drinking water contain ‘forever chemicals’? “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience,” the bank’s statement reads.In recent years, Wells Fargo faced multip...

Officials responding to wildfire in Hays County, estimated at 100 acres and 0% contained

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Officials responded to a wildfire in Hays County Saturday, according to the Hays County Office of Emergency Services (HCOES) website.The wildfire, known as the Oak Grove/Fox Fire, was reported in the 200 block of Oak Grove Road in San Marcos. It is estimated at 100 acres and 0% contained shortly before 6:30 p.m., according to the Hays County Office of Emergency Management and the Texas A&M Forest Service. The fire jumped across the Blanco River and was actively burning on the north side, Texas A&M said. Aircraft will prioritize the area.According to Texas A&M, the fire was very active, and structures were threatened. Additional aircraft was ordered to assist. Approximately 12 households were evacuated shortly before 6 p.m.The Hays County Wildland task force responded to the fire. Air assets are also being deployed to drop water on the fire.Officials responded to a large outside fire, known as Fox Fire, in Hays Co...

ATCEMS responds to major crash in northwest Travis County

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — On Saturday, the Austin-Travis County EMS responded to a major crash in northwest Travis County, the agency said on social media.Medics responded shortly after 5:30 p.m. to the 4200 block of North FM 620, near Mansfield Dam Ct., for a pediatric trauma alert. Additionally, ATCEMS said that Travis County STAR Flight also responded to the crash. Three ambulances and an incident commander were also on the scene.According to ATCEMS, three patients, two adults and a child, have been classified as trauma alerts. All three will be transported by STAR Flight -- the adults to St David's Medical Center in Round Rock, and the child to Dell Children's Medical Center.One other adult was also transported from the scene, and the last patient refused treatment.Drivers are urged to avoid the area and expect closures.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

State of Texas: 'The river is hurting.' Lawsuit claims buoy barrier damages Rio Grande

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Life on the river is not as it once was. As Jessie Fuentes sets his kayak free in the Rio Grande, he's struck by the abrupt entrapment of his favorite pastime — the river, once free-flowing and free for all to access, is now outfitted like the outer walls of a prison.The banks are bogged in mud, and the Carrizo cane was uprooted for concertina wire. Spools of tiny spikes are strewn with torn T-shirts, perhaps the only thing their one-time owners had on their backs before they surrendered to state troopers.Fuentes said it looked like Texas was fortifying for an army to invade."For me, it hurts," he said. "It can be beautiful. It used to be beautiful on both sides. Until Governor Abbott implemented his Operation Lone Star."Nexstar received special access to join Fuentes on a kayaking excursion down the river, which is now closed to the public as the state ramps up border security efforts under Operation Lone Star. The goal: reach the buoy barriers. Governor Greg Abb...

Kiszla: No more bad Buffs. Coach Deion Sanders puts college football world on notice: “We’re going to win.”

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

BOULDER — If football was a war of words, Deion Sanders would be a hammer lock as coach of this and every year, because the CU Buffs might never lose a game.In the World According to Prime, the future’s so bright for the Buffs, he’s got to wear shades. Indoors. During the middle of the day. If there are unrealistic expectations for a team that finished with a record of 1-11 last season, it’s only because Sanders has whipped CU fans into a frenzy.“We’re going to win. We’re going to win. We’re going to win,” Sanders declared Friday. “I don’t know how to say it. I wish I could say it in several different languages, but we’re going to win.”That solid-gold whistle dangling from Coach Prime’s neck? It’s a fine piece of jewelry befitting a brash coach who tackled what appears to be a dead-end job at the University of Colorado, losers of 68% of its games since 2006, with the full intention of making everybody in this woebegone football program filthy rich.“Everybody’s chasing a bag,” ...

Keeler: How can CSU Rams snatch victory from slow death of Pac-12? Merge, baby, merge! “This is a chance to elevate all programs.”

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

FORT COLLINS — A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Friday for college sports could, bizarrely, become a winning one for CSU.The Rams didn’t need a ripple of realignment. They needed absolute chaos.Two teams leaving the Pac-12 promised nothing as far as the Power 5 pipe dream. Not with San Diego State and (probably) SMU lurking ahead of them in the line for Group of Five replacements.Cue the Big Ten and Big 12 vultures. Cue the greed. Cue the chaos. The once-proud Pac-12 had been whittled to a Pac-4 by early Saturday morning. And the best advice for the Rams, going forward, from the guy who helped save the Big 12 more than a decade ago?Merge. Poach. Be aggressive. Offer a hand to the survivors of the NCAA’s latest sinking ship — Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State — by offering a collective, football-centric vision.“It would be logical to assume that there should be discussions between the remains of the Pac-12 and the Mountain West,” Chuck Neinas, the Co...

Man found in barrel at Malibu beach was aspiring rapper

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

A man who was found dead inside a barrel at Malibu Lagoon State Beach was shot in the head, according to a new report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.The victim, identified as 32-year-old Javonnta Murphy, was discovered on July 31 inside a 55-gallon drum floating in the water near the Pacific Coast Highway bridge.The coroner’s report also lists Murphy’s cause of death as a homicide. Murphy was found naked and sealed inside the barrel at the time. A park maintenance worker first spotted the barrel and paddled out in a kayak to investigate. When they tried to drag it to shore, it was too heavy so they left it in the water, according to the L.A. Sheriff’s Department.When a lifeguard arrived at work the next day and spotted the barrel around 10 a.m., they swam out to retrieve it. When they opened the barrel, that’s when they made the gruesome discovery, authorities said.Lifeguards discovered a body inside a barrel in Malibu Lagoon. July 31, 2023. (KTLA)Javonnta Murp...

Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office denies it “yanked” hijab off of Muslim woman

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:19:44 GMT

The Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office claimed on Saturday that a deputy did not forcibly remove the hijab of a Muslim woman being booked into jail.“The Sheriff’s Office received the complaint and reviewed the surveillance footage. Force was not used to remove the Hijab and in fact the complainant was asked to remove it herself,” the office said in a public statement, reports Bay City News.Asia Aden had called the sheriff’s office for a domestic-violence incident. Because she was in possession of a bat for self-defense, she was herself arrested and taken to the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, reports NBC. It was there that a deputy “yanked” off her hijab to photograph her, according to an August 3 statement from the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.She was not allowed to have her hijab while spending three days in jail, alleges the council, and was eventually not charged.“Ms. Aden explained to ...